When Dallas' Parkland Hospital opened its doors in 1954 on Harry Hines Boulevard, it was touted as "one of the finest public hospitals in the nation."

The medical center was described as "a skyscraper like building" with its nine stories and beds for 588 patients. For a the last couple of years, most of the sprawling medical complex northwest of downtown Dallas has been empty since Parkland relocated to its new $1.3 billion hospital across the street.

But a developer's plan could bring thousands of people back to the old Parkland complex in a new mixed-use project.

Developer Sam Ware said he plans to complete a purchase of the 38-acre former medical campus as early as the first week of April. Working with Dallas architect HKS, Ware plans to convert the old Parkland buildings into a combination of housing, office space, retail and a hotel.

"We're calling it the District," Ware said. "Everybody else wanted the buy this for the land and tear it down.

"I wanted the buildings," he said. "Our team can add another 100 years of life to it."

The Parkland Health & Hospital System put its old campus up for sale a year ago, hoping to find a buyer.

The former Parkland Hospital complex on Harry Hines Boulevard includes more than a dozen buildings.

(File Photo/Staff)

Commercial real estate firm CBRE, which was hired to market the property, called it "a significant redevelopment opportunity in Dallas-Fort Worth — the nation's top market for growth."

The purchase includes more than a dozen buildings, parking garages and raw land.

Most local real estate brokers expected that the old buildings would be razed to make way for new development. But Ware, who has had the Parkland properties under contract for several months, is known for his real estate recycling deals.

Ware's Drien Opportunity Partners paid $353 million in 2016 for the J.C. Penney headquarters in Plano. He's spending more than $60 million to turn the old corporate complex into a new business campus.

And on U.S. Highway 75, Ware says, he's about to purchase the old Collin Creek Mall, where he plans another major mixed-use development.

The proposal for the Parkland campus is to tear down a few of the smaller buildings south of Medical District Drive but keep most of the larger structures for new projects.

Bryan Trubey, executive vice president with HKS, said he's not aware of another medical campus repurposing that's this large.

"Nothing of this scale and complexity has been done, and it was one of the reasons we got excited about it," Trubey said. "This is a chance to actually turn it into a three-dimensional live, work and play environment that's not narrowly focused on medical."

The plan includes an extended stay hotel for families and patients visiting the surrounding medical district. Many of the rest of the buildings will be used for a variety of housing.

"We are going to convert the majority of old Parkland into 700 to 800 micro rental units that will average a little under 300 square feet," Ware said. "We are going to convert one of the buildings to for-sale condominiums that will average 1,000 square feet.

"The balance of it we'll do assisted living," he said. "We are going to end up having about 750,000 square feet of leasable and salable product there."

Ware said he also plans to add restaurants, conference facilities and health clubs to serve not only his project but the whole medical district. A small park would be built at the center of the campus.

The property south of Medical District Drive along DART's rail line would be sold to developers, he said "We are working offers on apartments, a hotel and retail," Ware said.

In other markets, former medical buildings have been turned into student housing, retirement homes, hotels and office space.

The Parkland project would be one of the largest redevelopments of an old medical complex in the country.

"It would be super if he could pull it off," said Jim Lake Jr., immediate past chairman of the Stemmons Corridor Business Association. "I'm in awe of the medical district every time I go over there.

"The medical district continues to support businesses in the neighborhood."

Developer Sam Ware plans to convert the old hospital buildings into a variety of housing, hotel rooms and commercial space.

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Drien Opportunity Partners

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Small buildings at the center of the medical complex would be torn down for a new park area.